KEY POINTS:
It was the missing season in Carl Hayman's impressive rugby career.
Unwanted by All Black coach John Mitchell, the 1000th All Black had to watch Greg Somerville, Kees Meeuws and Dave Hewett handle the tighthead propping tasks at the last World Cup, in 2003.
When Graham Henry came in as coach the next year, he slipped Hayman straight into the No 3 jersey.
With scrum guru Mike Cron to mentor him, Hayman made great progress and is New Zealand's premier tighthead, ahead of Somerville and Neemia Tialata.
And in a possible seven tests, Hayman will be gone, snared by the Newcastle club in England with the sort of record money which used to be offered only to fancy-dan backs or goalkickers.
So will it be one World Cup for Hayman, who turns 28 this year, or can he return in a few years and reclaim his All Black test jersey?
Identifying Hayman and sharpening his potential has been one of the great successes of the Henry-led management staff.
And the way the prop deals with his scrummaging workload and lineout lifting and is still able to charge around the field, taking the ball up or making telling tackles, is remarkable.
Just over half the first squad Henry picked in 2004 are playing at the World Cup.
Age, injury and form loss have accounted for the others, but those left carry a weighty amount of test experience to call on during this tournament.
They lost twice in Henry's initial year and have lost once a year since. Five defeats is a small quota as the coaching staff have sifted and examined the talent.
When they started thinking about this year's World Cup, they knew the inside back combination of Justin Marshall and Andrew Mehrtens would not be the answer.
So later in his first year as All Black coach, Henry left the celebrated pair behind for a tour to Europe.
There was all sorts of consternation, but that evaporated when Daniel Carter stepped up as first five-eighths. It was the second selection masterstroke for this regime.
Unflustered, uncanny, commanding - they were the adjectives being thrown at Carter as he unveiled his repertoire of skills.
From his brilliant goalkicking and strong defence through to his wicked pace, Carter had soon eclipsed Mehrtens, Grant Fox and Ross Brown.
The All Blacks are blessed with a range of players who would challenge for a place in any World XV. Mils Muliaina, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Richie McCaw, Jerry Collins - take your pick, and there are others.
If any of that group are injured, it will be as damaging as the knee injury which forced Tana Umaga from the last tournament.
But Hayman and Carter are absolutely critical to the All Blacks destiny in France this season. If they dominate their areas of the game, the All Blacks can win the tournament.
The risk is that their influence will be weakened by overzealous match officials.
